Module 1: Task 2c - Reflective Practice

'Critical Reflection' on 'Reflective Practice'

Before commencing the task of reflective writing, I have had some experience in using critical reflection in my journals during my training at Leicester College of Performing Arts. After reading through 'Reader 2' and other works, it became clear that I had not fully understood it, nor had I felt as much appreciation of critical reflection and reflective practice as I do now. Naturally, as a human being, I often looked back to reflect on my actions and think upon what I could have done differently to achieve a better outcome. However, I don't think that I recognised that I often learned through my critical reflections, or as scholars could more fittingly put it, "Turning experience into learning" (Boud et al 1985). I think this is an example of knowing something without realising what it means to you. 

One of the things that helped me to identify reflective practice within my profession was the work of educationist and philosopher John Dewey and his definition of the educational process. He describes the process as a "continual reorganisation, reconstruction and transformation of experience" (Dewey 1916). An instance in my profession that can best be associated with this theory and where I have been aware of reflective practices is when performing in front of a mirror in the studios. Whilst doing so, I have been and am still, constantly observing and reflecting on myself and my performance there and then, ensuring that I am hitting all the correct lines or positions, and ensuring that the stylisation is to the choreographer's or director's liking. Using the mirrors enables me to assess myself in 'real time' and apply immediate corrections where necessary.

Another scenario in which I was able to identify and make sense of reflective practice is where a dance captain sits back and watches the technical rehearsal of a performance, making notes for correction/direction purposes to be used at the end of the run. The dance captain will analyse and assess what needs to be done from afar, from the point of view of the audience. He/she reflect upon it and decide upon the best way forward on behalf of the cast members and announce which actions should be taken to improve on our work. This example here can also be associated with David Kolb's learning cycle. (See Fig. 1).

Harvard graduate, David Kolb, is an educational theorist who is known for his work and publications on experimental learning and learning style theories. He has always claimed that "learning is the process whereby knowledge is created by the transformation of knowledge" (1984). Inspired by the work of John Dewey and Kurt Lewin, his experimental learning theory is based on a cycle of reflective learning, involving four different styles of learning as depicted below. It is plausibly one of the most useful and acknowledged models of the experimental learning process.

Fig. 1 - David Kolb's Learning Cycle (1984)

IMG: www.simplypsychology.org

According to Kolb, in order to identify your learning style, you must first locate your entry point into the learning cycle, which derives from the moment you begin to learn and become aware. Based on this theory alone, I can not easily identify my learning style, as I do not believe that I hold preference to any one learning style at all.

Nevertheless, we can refer back to the 'dance captain' scenario to help convey the significance of Kolb's learning cycle to my profession. We can take the dance captain watching the performance as the concrete experience, taking notes for correction/direction as reflective observation, deciding the better methods to apply the directions as abstract conceptualisation and, lastly, practising applying the corrections/directions as active experimentation, before performing on stage later for another concrete experience.

It was Donald Alan Schön's views on the process of reflection and his coinage of the terms "reflection-in-action" and "reflection-on-action" (1987) that really made it clear enough for me to comprehend and to be able to identify some of the practices for reflection in my profession. This was also aided by Robert Kottcamp's acknowledgement of Schön's thesis, in support of his view that reflection-in-action is harder to achieve.   

"[Reflection-in-action]... is more difficult to achieve, but the more powerful for the improvement of practice because it results in 'on-line' experiments to adjust and improve one's professional actions. It is more difficult to achieve because the actor must simultaneously attend to performing the action and observe and analyse his or her action, as if from an external perspective." (Kottcamp 1990.) 

This theory, I can relate to. Not only do I refer back to performing in front of a mirror and the dance captains annotations in support of this, as a performer on stage along with the rest of the cast, I am constantly aware and thinking of what it is that I'm doing and continuously adapting to different situations within the constantly changing environment. One example would be when assessing my own levels of fatigue, reflecting-in-action to decide on how I should pace myself to successfully complete the performance to a high standard.

Donald Schön's theories were not left uncriticised. Professor Michael Eraut raised the issue of 'when time is extremely short, decisions have to be rapid and the scope for reflection is extremely limited' (1994). I can whole-heartedly second Eraut's claim here. And I can most certainly relate it to my profession. For example, a situation may develop spontaneously in the middle of executing a lift with a partner. It is possible that it may not go according to plan, and that almost as quickly as an involuntary action, an undertaking of action occurs. As you can imagine, if one were to reflect-in-action in a situation like this, one would have to assess the situation, decide on the plan of action for rectification or solution, think of cause for safety, ensure that the actions taken remain acceptable from an external (audience's) perspective. Not forgetting that you not only have to think for yourself but for your partner, too, as you are in control of his/her bodily safety. This is an example where Schön's reflecting-in-action would come under critical scrutiny. Neither reflecting-in-action or reflecting-on-action would be the optimal choice here. Having said that, it would be a good idea to do so afterwards. Jennifer A. Moon, author of Reflection in Learning and Professional Development: Theory and Practice (2000), suggests that it isn't necessary to put it into writing but, in my opinion, thinking about the experience, critically reflecting on it, deciding on a plan of action in order to prevent a similar situation from happening again, and recording this in a journal is essential.  

In my profession, there are several tools for and practices of reflection, these being used more often then I first presumed. Now that I am able to more readily understand the definition of reflective practice, I am aware that reflective practices take place on a daily basis. However, until now, I have never thought of it in identifiable terms. I merely accepted what was to be done as a means of serving a purpose. I had never previously sat down and thought in-depth about what else it could be or even how it related to the different ways we learn. Now, I am of the opinion that it is not just the actions and the time that we put in to our work that allows us to learn and improve but, in fact, the many ways of reflecting on our experiences. In the words of philosopher and educationalist John Dewey stated, "we do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience".

References

'BAPP Arts Module 1 Reader 2' - Middlesex University (2014)
IMG: www.simplypsychology.org
'Kolb - Learning Styles' - Saul McLeod (2010, 2013) 
www.simplypsychology.org 
'Learning and Teaching; Experimental Learning' - Atherton J S (2013) 
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/experience.htm
'Kolb learning styles' - www.businessballs.com 
'Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education, Facsimile Edition'
- John Dewey (1916) Charleston: Nebu
'Art as an Experience' 1958 re-print - John Dewey (1934) New York: Putnam
'Experimental Learning'  - Kolb, D A (1984)  Englewood NJ : Prentice Hall
'Developing Professional Knowledge and Competence' - M Eraut (1994) London: Falmer Press
'Donald Schon: learning, reflection and change' The encyclopaedia of informal education - Smith M.K. (2001, 2011)

'Turning experience into learning'  - Boud, D, Keough, R & Walker, D. (1985) London: Kogan 
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